FILE PHOTO: People are silhouetted in front of Xiaomi’s logo at a venue in Beijing, May 10, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
December 2, 2020
By Scott Murdoch
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp’s shares fell 7.1% in Hong Kong trading on Wednesday as the company finalised a $3.91 billion capital raising that included the city’s largest top up placement.
The company said 1 billion shares were sold at HK$23.70 each as part of the top up deal that was carried out overnight. The final price was a 9.4% discount to Xiaomi’s closing price of HK$26.15 on Tuesday.
Trading of Xiaomi’s stock was halted during the morning session before the company released details of the capital raise during Hong Kong’s lunch break, when trading is stopped for an hour.
It had been expected that details of the deal would be announced before the start of the trading day in line with normal market practices.
Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on why the deal was not announced until lunchtime.
When the stock resumed trading it fell by nearly 12% before paring losses to close down 7.1% at HK$24.3, the lowest since Nov. 18. It was the most actively traded stock on the Hong Kong exchange, according to Refinitiv data, and the biggest faller on the HSI index.
The equity portion of the deal raised $3.06 billion and a convertible bond raised a further $855 million, the company said in a statement, adding that the proceeds would be used to increase investments in its key markets.
Xiaomi’s deal was the largest top-up placement in Hong Kong to date, surpassing one by CNOOC Ltd which raised $1.9 billion in 2006, Dealogic data showed.
Top shareholder Smart Mobile Holdings Ltd, which owns about 27% of the company and is connected to Chairman Lei Jun, according to a term sheet released Tuesday sold the Class B type shares.
Xiaomi reported a 19% jump in third-quarter net profit on Nov. 24, as the Chinese smartphone maker’s shipments surged by 45.3% from a year earlier.
The company said it had taken market share in China and Europe as its rival Huawei Technologies faced U.S. sanctions that have hit its supply chain.
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Stephen Coates, Kirsten Donovan)
